


Sea Battle

by sanctum_c



Series: Cloti Week 2018 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: F/M, Fights, Leviathan - Freeform, Rescue, Shinra Company, Submarines, Summons & Summoning Meta, Tiny Bronco, Wutai (Compilation of FFVII)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: Avalanche are heading away from Wutai when they run into Shinra on the high seas.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Cloti Week 2018 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554913
Kudos: 8





	Sea Battle

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt 'Water-Fight'

The land slid away behind them as the Tiny Bronco made its way across the channel separating the Eastern continent from Wutai. The mood was buoyant, despite nuisance problems like having utterly lost Sephiroth’s trail. The man had indicated he was travelling beyond Mount Nibel; the attempt to follow lead to a confusing mess of circumstances - and Cid. Winding up in Wutai was more a result of ocean currents, but Barret had muttered to Tifa his suspicion their arrival there was not wholly accidental. Impossible to dismiss fully, but Yuffie was contrite and, for now, on her best behaviour. Whether the result of her abduction by Don Corneo, or whatever secretive words passed between Yuffie and her father, Tifa could not be certain.

In any case, Yuffie had insisted she was re-devoted to Avalanche’s cause – and the group was not fussy; personal revenge on Rufus Shinra, opposed to the company bearing his name, a vendetta against their resurrected elite SOLDIER, or simply accompanying them to seek knowledge. All of them welcomed by Cloud. That their ranks had swelled to nine individuals made travelling on the Tiny Bronco a risky proposition. Avalanche spread out to most of the surfaces and held on as best they could. Cid had the most comfortable seat in the cockpit, the one able to at least nudge the plane in the right direction.

How best to now pick up Sephiroth’s trail? Not something the group had discussed, but something they needed to consider. The thought of confronting him sent a shiver down Tifa’s spine, despite the bright sunlight beating down on them. Seeing him on the ship and in the cramped laboratory beneath the Shinra mansion a daunting experience. To keep seeking him out like this- But where Sephiroth went, Cloud went. And Cloud insisted Sephiroth was a greater risk to the Planet than Shinra. He remained always anxious to get moving; now sat forward, staring out to sea. Looking for land? Perhaps.

A thin trail of smoke drifted up from the cockpit. Tifa started- And stopped as a now familiar smell drifted past her; Cid was smoking. Again. She wrinkled her nose and shuffled along the wing and towards the centre. The move helped a little, but did put her in the more crowded part. Cait Sith took up more space than any of the rest of them, but without risking serious damage to the cat’s moogle, there was little anyone could do. The robot was inert, the consciousness animating it elsewhere. Still curious as to who could operate such a creation. And how-

Another question for the pile. Aeris was leafing through one of the comic-like volumes Yuffie had insisted on buying before departing her homeland; trying to figure out the language or simply looking at the pictures? Yuffie conversely was intently flipping through another volume- What was she reading to make her cheeks flush? Tifa opened her mouth when Cid grunted. “Problem?”

“Dunno.” Tifa inched her way forward and stared down into the cockpit. Cid was staring at the instrument panel. “Thought I got an odd reading. Sea shallower than expected.” He shook his head. “Must have been some fish or a reef or-“

He cut off as the Tiny Bronco rocked, panicking Avalanche members grabbing for whatever handhold they could find. Something surged up from beneath the water. Something red. A panicked question died on Tifa’s lips; the logo of the Shinra corporation was clear on the prow. Cid uttered a stream of profanities, wrenching the controls to steer them away. The plane moved at a sluggish pace in the water. Any chance this was the Turks? That their fleeting truce might hold?

Hope faded as the top-hatch of the submarine opened and a troop commander emerged. “Identify yourselves,” he called.

“Act casual,” Tifa murmured, not daring to glance around.

“We’re just out for a sail,” Cid said. He stood up and leant against the side of the cockpit. “’fraid I left my ID back home.” The man scrutinised him and called something below. Shinra troops flocked onto the deck. “Hey, it was an accident.”

“Your identity is not of concern; you are in possession of a Shinra transport vessel. You will surrender it immediately and turn yourselves in for questioning.”

“Told ya boss this here plane is mine,” Cid snapped. Tifa closed her eyes. So much for talking their way out of this. “He ain’t getting this one as well.”

The commander nodded. “Very well. Fire at will.”

Avalanche was by now well practiced at surprise attacks in their travels. Before the first gunshot, Vincent had raised a succession of barriers between the submarine and the Tiny Bronco. Barret’s gun-arm whirred to life and began its staccato blasting of bullets towards the troops. Cid wrenched the controls, slowly turning the vessel away. Vincent tracked the movement, throwing up new barriers as the remainder of the group prepared magic. Excepting Cait Sith; somehow the robot was still sat vacantly in the middle of the drama.

Aeris and Tifa both sent a volley of ice towards the submarine; Yuffie heaved a fireball in the same direction. Both struck home, eliminating a few troopers (over the side and burned to crisp), but there were more to replace them and they shifted to gain better cover. Nanaki closed his good eye and a bolt of lightning burst out of the clear sky, narrowly missing the submarine, smashing into the sea with a crackling fizz. “Keep it up!” Cid yelled as he set the Tiny Bronco moving away from the submarine.

“We’re never going to lose them like this” Cloud let loose another fireball.

“If you’ve got a better plan, I’m all ears,” Cid shot back.

“Guess I should give it a shot.” Yuffie snickered clutching a red materia and focusing on it.

“What is-“

“Tifa!” Cloud yelled. Something slammed into her and she fell. There was the sensation of something warm around her waist. Water slammed against her, around her and enveloped her. Tifa blinked, the salt water stung her eyes. Below was an immensity of water, the depths lost in gloom. Beside her was the huge hull of the submarine and above was the tiny form of Cid’s plane. Cloud sank beside her, his arm around her. Had he saved her from a shot?

No time to think about the implications; something was rising up out of the depths, a shimmering, coiling form. What fresh horror was this? Tifa flailed, trying to turn over. The Tiny Bronco might not withstand a blow from the creature, but at least she would not be in the water when it arrived-

Too close; it moved beneath her feet and Tifa hurtled out of the water, Cloud by her side, his arms still around her. Up and up they went; it was all she could do to hang on to the segments between the scales. The submarine dropped below them, and the creature – whatever it was – loomed above it. The Shinra troops on deck panicked and concentrated all their fire on the creature. It seemed to make no difference. The creature quivered, the lower parts of its body, coiling and recoiling. A surge of water blasted up from beneath it, washing over the submarine and forcing it back down under the water. The submarine did not resurface.

Yuffie let out a whoop; the creature collapsed beneath Tifa, leaving a familiar dispersing mass of blue light in its wake. She fell – again – and hit the water. Cloud’s grip loosened and he floundered beside her. It took some time to help Cloud back to the surface. “What was that?” Tifa called.

Aeris and Barret leant over the side of the Tiny Bronco holding their hands out to Cloud and Tifa. Aeris smiled. “Yuffie’s new toy.”

“You got a new summon?” Tifa eyed the Ninja as Aeris hauled her onboard, Barret hefting Cloud up. “And didn’t tell us.”

Yuffie shrugged. “Helped out though.” She pulled a red materia from somewhere. “May I introduce the mighty Leviathan….”


End file.
